MMA or BJJ

[MNWild83]

Hey Guys,

I am kind of in a dilemma. I originally was interested in just BJJ to get into shape and to have something to do at night. But the closest place to my house is 30 min away. That might not be too far, but there is an MMA that meets 3 times a week near my house. I don't know what to do. I don't intend to compete or fight or anything . . .I just want to get in shape and have something that is competetive. What do you think will better suit my needs? Thanks for your opinions.

 

[paulchu]

why dont you try them both first? >.>

 

[Gsoares2***]

yeah try them both for the free trial period then make up your mind. I like bjj more personaly.

PLus there was aso called "mma" gym up the street from my house. So i stopped by.. it was taught by a 300lb over weight Karate black belt.. Who was all into the KYAIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!! It was the gayest thing i ever went to and couldnt believe the other guys who were in it.

 

[stephensharp]

You don't want to compete, but want something competitive?

Does not compute?


Check them out, but maybe take some time to really think about what it actually is you want, so you can see which one most fits what you're looking for.

 

[triso]

You should try a free class at each gym, and maybe try to watch a few classes (if you can). Try and get a solid impression of each.

I don't know how new you are to this, but do your research on each. Make sure you train in what you prefer. See what classes the MMA club offers (Muay Thai, Boxing, Submission Grappling, MMA).

They both have different things to offer you. The Jiu Jitsu club will probably make you a very good grappler (if you stick with it), while the MMA gym will make you well rounded in both striking and grappling (depending on how much you train, and how you mix your classes).

You really need explore both places. Research the instructors and the head of the gym, and then see to it that it's a legit gym with proven teachers. A number of guys on here can probably give you some good info if you post the names of the gyms you are looking into, and where you live.

 

[Commissar]

Yeah, I can't add anything.

But, for what it's worth, I prefer BJJ over MMA. You might enjoy BJJ more because, although it's an amazing workout, you will generally be safe from black eyes, large cuts, etc.

 

[alexgncw]

if you don't plan on competing i'd say bjj that will get you in as good a shape as you can be if you do mma you better be ready for a lot of visible injuries from cuts, bruises, etc since there will be striking

on another note i know people who came into bjj just to loose some weight or we and had no plans to compete until they were talked into going to a tournament and now can't wait till the next one

 

[MNWild83]

Thanks for the replies guys, I really appreciate it. And in response about not wanting to compete but being competetive . . .I want to do something that is competetive IE: training is still competetive, but I don't want to have to go into tournaments to compete. Does that compute?
Well, the two schools I am looking at are the Miletich Fighting Systems and Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. I have spoken to one guy about MMAA and he likes it, but I haven't heard anything else about either schools. Thanks again.

 

[triso]

Miletich Fighting Systems?

You don't know what your in for dude.

 

[Matt Thornton]

If it were me, I'd pick MMA. Some guys prefer to do just BJJ, and that's totally fine. But in MMA, what's cool is, you really can't get sick of it. I can be really fickle with martial arts. One minute I'll be really into Muay Thai, then the next I can't stop thinking about Judo for some reason. So I can constantly shift favorite martial arts, learn some stuff from them, and apply them to what I do. You can be really into stand-up, then decide you actually like grappling better, and either way, you're just making yourself better at MMA.

With MMA, there's less of a chance to get bored, which is the worst thing that can happen to a martial artist. Between punching, kicking, clinching/kneeing, takedowns, throws, submissions, and ground and pound, and all the types of conditioning you can do, you can always keep training exciting and interesting.

I'd definitely recommend MMA training to anybody, regardless of age, size, or skill level. I haven't even had a full-contact fight yet (when I'm 18 I will), but already, just from training hard, I feel soooo much more confident about myself than any other martial art I did. Being able to actually see results on the mat, in the ring, and against the fence, does so much for your confidence. I came into MMA stand up knowing how to box (my kicks needed work; I was coming from Kenpo shifting into Muay Thai and kickboxing), but I hadn't really sparred before. It took me a while to really get used to punches and kicks coming at me, but now I can just relax, and I'm not as afraid of punches as I used to be. That's a big improvement in my book.

 

[Colby18***]

Definitley go with MFS, you'll become a wrecking machine.

 

[Bama Zulu]

Don't even bother with MFS. They say they intenionally try to break people and Matt Hughes is quoted saying that it's fun to destroy guys. You should go to place that doesn't have such a negative and hurtful attitude, who cares if they produce champs.

You need to think about what you want. If you aren't interested in coming to school/work with black eyes and bruises everywhere all the time then go with BJJ. Fun workout, almost an infinite pool of learning and rolling is still friendly competition while trying to get better but without the other guy trying to murder you.

 

[pitviper259]

Don't even bother with MFS. They say they intenionally try to break people and Matt Hughes is quoted saying that it's fun to destroy guys. You should go to place that doesn't have such a negative and hurtful attitude, who cares if they produce champs.

Dude screw that if u have a chance to go to mfs do it!! Them "breaking" you will get you in the best shape of your life. What the hell is it with this standard that training has to be nice now? If you cant take them destroying you? How are you gonna take it when it happens in a match? I swear it seems like nearly all sherdoggers are just babies now. Everyone I dont care who it is needs a good kick in the ass every now and then

 

[Bama Zulu]

Not everyone want's to compete. This isn't about being a baby this about knowing where your priorities are. A lot of people aren't young 17-early 20's kids that don't hav a job and live with thier parents. Some people have real important jobs and they can't afford to be busting their ass every week. What if they are a cop? THey need to be able to carry a gun the next day, think about that.

Again, different people, not everyone wants to be a hardcore machine. If he doesn't want to compete professionally and is a fighter full time then he doesn't need MFS.

And wtf, rolling itself will get you in great ass shape.

 

[Matt Thornton]

Dude screw that if u have a chance to go to mfs do it!! Them "breaking" you will get you in the best shape of your life. What the hell is it with this standard that training has to be nice now? If you cant take them destroying you? How are you gonna take it when it happens in a match? I swear it seems like nearly all sherdoggers are just babies now. Everyone I dont care who it is needs a good kick in the ass every now and then

Well, it can be good for guys like you and me, who are really looking into competing (I'm assuming you are). But not everyone wants the whole dog-eat-dog, natural selection, alpha male dominance attitude that comes with competing. Some people just want to learn MMA, and that's fine. Not everyone has to be an athlete.

Look at Team Quest. Equally good gym, and it gets praised for having such a great attitude. Everyone's mind is open to new things, and everyone leaves in a good mood. No breaking needed.

Hughes is a great fighter but since I saw him on TUF2 I really started disliking him. There was a senior on our high school wrestling team last year who was just like that. He would just try to mentally destroy people on his own team. I remember the night before Christmas eve (I was a sophomore), we were having kind of a light-hearted practice, and we were finishing up by doing some live wrestling with the varsity team. He stands up, headbutts me, and when I'm like "Whoah, hey, watch the headbutt," he starts just going all out. Then he screams "COME ON, YOU GONNA BE A PUSSY ABOUT IT?" I wasn't hurt but it was just like, I was confused, why he was being such a dick. As I'm walking away when we go to get new partners he says "That's all you ever were." I wasn't about to punch him because he was a captain, but I got so pissed I just punched the shit out of a locker. Afterwards he came up to me, and I just shot him a look like "I want to fucking kill you." And he says "You'll thank me someday." He thought he was helping me out by toughening me up, but all it did in the end was put me in a piss-ass mood and to this day I still seriously dislike the kid. I met up with him again at an open mat session, and he started headbutting me again to try to pin me, and I was about 2 seconds from turning around, putting him in guard, and slapping on a triangle choke until he passed out and shit his pants.

There's nothing helpful about trying to mentally break people down. You may think it produces tougher guys but I completely disagree. While you shouldn't baby people, there's nothing wrong with encouragement and not being a complete asshole. All breaking people down does is exactly what it says: breaks them down. They'll doubt themselves mentally every time they try to do something. You may think it causes the tougher guys to rise to the top, but some of the people who are really affected by you breaking them down, may have been able to beat the "tough" guys, if they didn't hit that mental block that you put there.

Kind of went off topic, but it's just something I see that pisses me off. It's like helping other people out instantly labels you as a pussy.

 

[alexgncw]

from my point of view (keep in mind i am in it to compete and i wanna be the best i can be in the sport) if i had a chance to train at miletich i'd be all over it because from what i know its a GREAT school that makes very good fighters ... now in your case since you don't wanna get banged up it may not be the best place because they do train like animals there and you will get hurt from time to time as you probably will with any competitive training but i can only imagine how hard their training must be

i don't know anything about the other school though so i'd suggest checking them both out

 

[pitviper259]

Well, it can be good for guys like you and me, who are really looking into competing (I'm assuming you are). But not everyone wants the whole dog-eat-dog, natural selection, alpha male dominance attitude that comes with competing. Some people just want to learn MMA, and that's fine. Not everyone has to be an athlete.

Look at Team Quest. Equally good gym, and it gets praised for having such a great attitude. Everyone's mind is open to new things, and everyone leaves in a good mood. No breaking needed.

Hughes is a great fighter but since I saw him on TUF2 I really started disliking him. There was a senior on our high school wrestling team last year who was just like that. He would just try to mentally destroy people on his own team. I remember the night before Christmas eve (I was a sophomore), we were having kind of a light-hearted practice, and we were finishing up by doing some live wrestling with the varsity team. He stands up, headbutts me, and when I'm like "Whoah, hey, watch the headbutt," he starts just going all out. Then he screams "COME ON, YOU GONNA BE A PUSSY ABOUT IT?" I wasn't hurt but it was just like, I was confused, why he was being such a dick. As I'm walking away when we go to get new partners he says "That's all you ever were." I wasn't about to punch him because he was a captain, but I got so pissed I just punched the shit out of a locker. Afterwards he came up to me, and I just shot him a look like "I want to fucking kill you." And he says "You'll thank me someday." He thought he was helping me out by toughening me up, but all it did in the end was put me in a piss-ass mood and to this day I still seriously dislike the kid. I met up with him again at an open mat session, and he started headbutting me again to try to pin me, and I was about 2 seconds from turning around, putting him in guard, and slapping on a triangle choke until he passed out and shit his pants.

There's nothing helpful about trying to mentally break people down. You may think it produces tougher guys but I completely disagree. While you shouldn't baby people, there's nothing wrong with encouragement and not being a complete asshole. All breaking people down does is exactly what it says: breaks them down. They'll doubt themselves mentally every time they try to do something. You may think it causes the tougher guys to rise to the top, but some of the people who are really affected by you breaking them down, may have been able to beat the "tough" guys, if they didn't hit that mental block that you put there.

Kind of went off topic, but it's just something I see that pisses me off. It's like helping other people out instantly labels you as a pussy.

i just wanna ask one question to you? When this kid did that to you did it make you feel weak or make you wanna train to destroy him?? Of course then you werent ready but obviously you've trained to toughen yourself up to beat assholes like that... in a "sick" way you probably do owe him some thanks being that now you can triangle the shit out of him. I do understand what you guys are saying and i guess that maybe it just works for me better when someone can dominate me and "break" me down cause all that does is piss me off and make me train that much harder so that when i finally do beat them I feel that much better! But again maybe thats just me

 

[Gsoares2***]

training mma youll never really excell in any ONE thing... you be OK at a bunch of different martial arts.. but not great at any one.

I want to pick one thing to excel in.

 

[Dr. BadAss]

Transitioning from BJJ to MMA is easier IMO than the other way around.

 

[b0b]

I don't like being punched or kicked, so I do BJJ and Judo. It really just comes down to preference.